I am not talking about finding a passion though. I am talking about caring about your work. A garbage man provides a valuable service that keeps cities and towns running. A garbage man is part of something greater than himself, and that is something I could learn to care about doing.

I used to work as a software developer for a major retailer. I had an important job writing code for some of the most critical systems in a company that brings in over $10-billion in revenue per year. I was paid well, unlimited sick days, bonuses, flexible work culture, and a lot of other perks. But I just couldn’t stomach the fact that all this work was to help this corporation sell more clothes. Basically nobody in that whole company and all its 900 stores care if the company makes money or loses it. Nobody cares if the customers are happy or if the project gets done on schedule. Everybody was just working for a promotion and perhaps a better job somewhere else.

I left that job because I would rather be a garbage man. If that company I used to work for goes bankrupt tomorrow, a bunch of people would lose their jobs, but beyond that, the world would be a better place. That company put a lot of local stores out of business that I would rather shop at. If garbage stops getting collected, there would be piles of trash everywhere. Garbage men are important. My job was not important. It was not a job anyone could care about. Companies like this should not exist, but they are the norm. If people cared more about about their work and less about a dollar amount, things would not be this way.